Of Manipulation and Madness

It’s Wednesday morning and sovereign debt yields – U.S. Treasuries included – are again plumbing multi-year or in some cases all-time lows; as globally speaking, the “most damning proof yet of QE failure” couldn’t be more plain to see. In other words, from East to West, fixed income markets are anticipating “QE to Infinity” amidst the worst economic backdrop – and outlook – of our lifetimes. Part and parcel of such madness, everyone from money managers to corporate treasurers (as exemplified by record largely debt-funded stock repurchases) to sovereign wealth funds themselves are piling into stocks at record valuations, yielding an MSM mania comprising the worst imaginable aspects of 1999 and 2007 – and ironically, thanks to record margin debt, the lowest investor “net worth” ever recorded!

Zero Hedge

Unfortunately, the retail investor is largely absent this time around, having nearly lost his shirt in 2000 – and whatever else remained in 2008. Since then everything from employment, to income, to inflation has gone in the wrong direction; and thus, as markets morphed from “partly manipulated” to all-out commandeered the “game” has become entirely the province of insolvent, but infinitely government-supported TBTF banks. This is how the S&P 500 can close at a “record high” (non-inflation adjusted, of course) on one of the lowest volume days of the decade, amidst a collapsing yield curve and oh yeah, a “flash crash” event far more severe than the memorable one of May 2010. In this case, markets didn’t “crash,” but 20% more stocks were “broken” for nearly an hour, care of the all-out destruction of equity “markets” by the era of manipulative financial engineering. And what were the day’s key headlines? Collapsing Chinese business sentiment, a plunging Argentine Peso, Obama preparing to bomb Syria, failed Russia/Ukraine peace talks, the Council of Foreign Relations recommending unfettered money “helicopter drops,” and none other than JP Morgan predicting a one in three chance of the ECB announcing outright QE at next Thursday’s meeting, and one in two by year-end. And thus, in our self-appointed role of the “bearer of truthful tidings,” all we can say is this. If you think a combination of record global high-yield debt offerings at record low yields, amidst record low economic activity and record high-yield fund withdrawals is not a recipe for disaster, you are likely in for a very, very rude awakening.

In that context, let’s walk you through yesterday’s “manipulation-fest”; i.e., one of the most egregious imaginable manifestations of what we have long-written of. Clearly, the “propaganda leg” of the “evil tripod” of money printing, market manipulation and propaganda is breaking. And thus, TPTB have “doubled up” support of the other two legs – starting with the all-important 10-year Treasury yield, where the Fed is desperately attempting to avoid the aforementioned “most damning proof…” by goosing the yield each time it plunges below 2.4%. The artificial “spike” Friday was their failed attempt to fool the masses into believing Whirlybird Janet’s “Jackson Black Hole” speech was “hawkish” – and as you can see, every subsequent utilization of the “new Hail Mary trade” has failed (left chart), including yesterday afternoon’s blatant attempt (right chart).

As for PM “markets,” essentially every manipulative, suppressive tool we have ever written of was utilized to cap gold and silver’s rallies during yesterday’s COMEX options expiration day (after which, there are still more silver contracts outstanding than registered COMEX inventory). And seeing gold as I write early Wednesday morning, trading at EXACTLY its 200 DMA of $1,285, you can bet the Cartel is quite frustrated at its ongoing failure to break down the unbreakable. And that goes doubly so for the world’s most manipulated and undervalued market, silver; where at valuations well below the cost of production, the Cartel has inadvertently generated a massive extremely rare “quintuple bottom” formation – amidst record physical demand!

As for gold, take a gander below, and you can see essentially everything we have written of this past decade-plus – starting with the blatant “Cartel Herald” formation when gold’s gains reached exactly their 1.0% “daily cap” at the “2:15 AM EST” open of London “pre-market” paper trading representing its 286th such “cap and attack” of the past 312 trading days. Next, the minor “cap” at the 7:00 AM EST open of New York “pre-market” paper trading, and a second Cartel Herald – also at exactly +1.0% – at exactly the 8:20 AM EST COMEX open. And then at “key attack time #1” – i.e., the close of global physical trading at 10:00 AM EST, a waterfall decline – flimsily predicated on a comically fraudulent government “consumer confidence report, which not only contradicted economic reality and countless privately-published reports, but the myriad real reports of the week – from abysmal core durable goods orders, home prices, new home sales, and even the PMI services “diffusion index.”

In fact, the only times we have seen such divergence between the privately-published University of Michigan survey and the government-published conference board survey (the government number is always higher) were just preceding the market crashes of 1987, 2000 and 2008. But hey, let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story.

Once gold was “safely below” its 200 DMA of $1,285/oz., note the minor caps at exactly the 12:00 PM EST “cap of last resort” and the 2:00 PM EST “crybaby attack” time. Not to mention, per Friday’s “Six-Sigma Precious Metals Manipulation Proof” article the 4:00 PM NYSE close. As for silver, never have we seen anything as blatant as the past year’s daily paper raids of one of the world’s scarcest physical resources, per last year’s “irrefutable PM manipulation statistics.” In yesterday’s case, at exactly the COMEX open at exactly the key round number of $19.50/oz., with all those pre-options expiration call options still open.

Again, the reason we spend so much time focusing on market manipulation is to help you realize that what TPTB are attempting to portray is but a mirage, attempting to whitewash the terminal stage of history’s largest fiat Ponzi scheme. When it inevitably collapses – perhaps much sooner than most can imagine – the only asset class guaranteed to survive is physical precious metals; and if you don’t “have your ounces” before it occurs it will be too late to protect yourself.

15 Comments

Michael Goyer
on August 27, 2014 at 4:34 pm

When there is no more silver and gold to be had bitcoin will be what people turn to. The argument that gold and silver are the only things that people turn to for thousands of years in such times may be similar to the horse and buggy dealers who argued against the adoption of automobiles at the turn of the last century.

So authoritative! I guess you own no gold and silver. Good luck with Bitcoin.

Michael Goyer
on August 28, 2014 at 11:08 am

Of course I own silver, its not an either/or proposition. It would be nice to hear people whom others respect to be a little more open and fair. You admit to receiving a lot of questions related to bitcoin, so why not seek out someone like Jeffrey Tucker, to get an informed take on it. Who knows, Miles Franklin may end up selling it when the gold and silver run out.

I have my views about Bitcoin, and have given them! And I couldn’t care less what Jeffrey Tucker believes. You can believe whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean I have to as well.

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Michael Goyer
on August 28, 2014 at 12:10 pm

Wasn’t talking about beliefs, and what you think doesn’t change the facts of which is what you apparently could care less about. One would think that a healthy skepticism would eventually fade with proven efficacy. I understand that to acknowledge the facts may alter your thoughts…God forbid! Oh well, best of luck with that.

Proven efficacy? Where? Because a dying Overstock.com uses it. Show me years and decades of proven efficacy, and I’ll become a believer. Otherwise, I’ll stick to what I have 100% confidence in.

More importantly, there’s a huge difference between Bitcoin the investment, and Bitcoin the monetary platform. I couldn’t care less if there is a new gold standard – as per what I wrote in “Is Gold Money – Who Cares?,” I own it solely due to its storage of value properties. I couldn’t care less if Bitcoin becomes a new monetary platform; if it does, great, it won’t change my life one bit (and of course, wouldn’t occur without the global economy collapsing first, potentially into military chaos). As for the investment, there is not a chance that Bitcoin could rise significantly without PMs doing so as well. So why would I risk something with ZERO proven efficacy, versus one with 5,000 years worth (that I happen to be a global expert in)?

If people can’t see this ship sinking it’s because of absolute denial. Andy you have made the case, the jury has agreed and all we are waiting for is the sentencing date. This country has been sold down the road decades ago, since they would not liquidate the banks with there trillions in bad bets, they have decided to liquidate the nation with eternal qe ( theft) and steal every asset they can get their hands on, and manipulate every conceivable market around the globe. The reason that I hold physical gold and silver is so I have something in my hands to start over with after we all here that giant flushing sound. Who would trust bit coin after that?

keith
on August 28, 2014 at 11:07 am

Well said, i like the way you summed it up. They wont liquidate the banks but will the country. Imagine being retired and saved all your life for interest income to live on, but now for past 6 yrs your making nothing. I’m seeing lots of older people greeting me when I walk into Home Depot’s. I wish their was a way they could be heard. I guess we’ll find out in November. However, I doubt the majority can put 2 and 2 together.

When this baby blows wide open, people will scramble for real assets once they are told or hear by word of mouth how they can protect their years if labor hours. But like everything else people don’t think anymore, they just listen to what TV tells them. We are in the USA, what possibly could happen? We are special and the most powerful country on earth, Our govt won’t let anything bad happen right? Tick Tok……….. Times running out, this path we are on won’t ladt forever

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